Court Reporting
Degrees:
TVCC Court Reporting is an online teaching program that provides students with the essential education to become a Certified Shorthand Reporter. The completion of the first year of the program provides students with a Scopist Certificate. This certificate gives students the tools needed to assist current court reporters in producing transcripts and daily copies, rough drafts for courts and depositions. The second year of the program concludes with a Court Reporting Certificate that provides the skills needed to become Certified Shorthand Reporters (CSR). The speed-building portion of the program is self-paced, varies for each student, and may continue past the six semesters. Once the exit speed requirements are met and the student becomes certified by the State, he/she will have opportunities to work as a freelance reporter, official court reporter, broadcast captioner, CART captioner for the hearing-impaired community, or to go on to become a certified realtime captioner working in the broadcasting field.
Pending DOE approval.
CRTR-1202. Law and Legal Terminology. (2 Credits)
(2, 1, 2) Instruction in civil and criminal judicial systems (discovery, trial and appellate processes),and the legal terms used in court reporting.
CRTR-1308. Realtime Court Reporting I. (3 Credits)
(3, 2, 2) Development of computer and machine shorthand skills necessary for writing real time for production of projects and assignments.
CRTR-1312. Court Reporting Communications I. (3 Credits)
Study of the basic rules of English grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and proofreading skills as they apply to court reporting.
CRTR-1314. Court Reporting Technology I. (3 Credits)
(3, 2, 2) Introduction to computer-aided transcription systems.
CRTR-1404. Machine Shorthand I. (4 Credits)
Instruction in general principles of real-time machine shorthand theory and skill building through read-back of dictation notes, machine practice, and transcription. This course is designed to be repeated to meet program requirements.
CRTR-1406. Machine Shorthand II. (4 Credits)
(4, 2, 5) Continued development of real-time shorthand skills through read-back, machine practice, and transcription. This course is designed to be repeated to meet program standards.
CRTR-2206. Medical Court Reporting. (2 Credits)
(2, 1, 2) Introduction to medical terms and anatomy in court reporting.
CRTR-2286. Internship - Court Reporting. (2 Credits)
(2, 0, 8) A work-based learning experience that enables the student to apply specialized occupational theory, skills and concepts. A learning plan is developed by the college and the employer.
CRTR-2303. Advanced Machine Shorthand. (3 Credits)
(3, 1, 6) In-depth coverage of real-time machine shorthand theory and continued skill building through read-back, machine practice, and transcript production. This course may be repeated multiple times until machine shorthand standards are met.
CRTR-2311. Court Reporting Communications II. (3 Credits)
(3, 2, 2) In-depth coverage of grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, vocabulary, and proofreading skills necessary to produce transcripts.
CRTR-2312. Court Reporting Procedures. (3 Credits)
(3, 3, 1) Instruction in the role of the court reporter in court proceedings and/or depositions.
CRTR-2331. Court Reporter Certification Preparation. (3 Credits)
Preparation for taking the Texas Certified Shorthand Reporter and the Registered Professional Reporter examinations through the use of mock examinations. This course is designed to be repeated.
CRTR-2335. Accelerated Machine Shorthand. (3 Credits)
(3, 1, 6) Mastery of high-speed dictation including readback, machine practice, and transcription. This course may be repeated multiple times until machine shorthand standards are met.
CRTR-2401. Intermediate Machine Shorthand. (4 Credits)
(4, 2, 5) Continued development of real-time machine shorthand skills through read-back, machine practice, and transcription. This course is designed to be repeated multiple times to meet program standards.
Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners
2022 Median Pay: $63,560 per year; $30.56 per hour
Typical Entry-Level Education - Postsecondary nondegree award
Work Experience in Related Occupation - None
On-the-job Training Short-term on-the-job training
Number of Jobs, 2022 - 21,300
Job Outlook 2022-32 - 3% (As fast as average)
Employment Change, 2022-32 - 600
What?
DUTIES
Court reporters and simultaneous captioners typically do the following:
- Attend depositions, hearings, proceedings, and other events that require verbatim transcripts
- Capture spoken dialogue with special equipment, such as stenography machines and digital recording devices
- Report speakers' identification, gestures, and actions
- Read or play back portions of events or legal proceedings upon request
- Ask speakers to clarify inaudible statements or testimony
- Review notes they have taken, including the spelling of names and technical terminology
- Provide copies of transcripts and recordings to the parties involved
- Transcribe television or movie dialogue for the benefit of viewers
- Provide real-time transcription of presentations in public forums for people who are deaf or hard of hearing
Court reporters have a critical role in legal proceedings, which require an exact record of what occurred. These workers are responsible for producing a complete, accurate, and secure transcript of depositions, trials, and other legal proceedings. The official record allows judges and lawyers to efficiently search for important information contained in the transcript. Court reporters also index and catalog exhibits used during legal proceedings.
Simultaneous captioners primarily serve people who are deaf or hard of hearing by transcribing speech to text as the speech occurs. They typically work in settings other than courtrooms or law offices.
The following are examples of types of simultaneous captioners:
Broadcast captioners provide transcriptions for television programs (called closed captions). They capture dialogue for displaying to television viewers, primarily those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Some broadcast captioners may transcribe dialogue in real time during broadcasts; others caption during the program’s postproduction.
Communication access real-time translation (CART) providers work primarily with people who are deaf or hard of hearing during meetings, doctors’ appointments, and other situations requiring real-time transcription. For example, CART providers may caption the dialogue of college classes and present an immediate transcript to students who are learning English as a second language.
Although some simultaneous captioners accompany their clients to events, many broadcast captioners and CART providers do not. Establishing remote access allows these workers to hear and type dialogue without having to be physically present in the room.
Court reporters and simultaneous captioners turn dialogue into text for a variety of audiences. For information about workers who convey dialogue through sign language, cued speech, or other means to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, see the profile on interpreters and translators.
Court reporters and simultaneous captioners use different methods for recording speech, such as stenotype machines, steno masks, and digital recording devices.
Stenotype machines work like keyboards but create words through key combinations rather than single characters, allowing court reporters to keep up with fast-moving dialogue.
With steno masks, court reporters and simultaneous captioners speak directly into a covered microphone to record dialogue and to describe gestures and actions. Because the microphone is covered, others cannot hear what the reporter or captioner is saying.
Digital recording devices create an audio or video file rather than a written transcript. In addition to recording dialogue, court reporters and simultaneous captioners who use this equipment also take notes to identify the speakers and provide context for the recording. In some cases, they use the audio recording to create a written transcript.
SUMMARY
Court reporters have a critical role in legal proceedings, which require an exact record of what occurred. These workers are responsible for producing a complete, accurate, and secure transcript of depositions, trials, and other legal proceedings. The official record allows judges and lawyers to efficiently search for important information contained in the transcript. Court reporters also index and catalog exhibits used during legal proceedings.
What Information Security Analysts Do
Court reporters create word-for-word transcriptions at trials, depositions, administrative hearings other legal proceedings. Simultaneous captioners provide similar transcriptions for television or presentations in other settings, such as press conferences and business meetings, for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
Most Court reporters work in courts or legislatures; simultaneous captioners may work from their home or a central office. Some court reporters and simultaneous captioners travel to other locations, such as meeting sites or public events.
PAY
The median annual wage for court reporters and simultaneous captioners was $63,560 in May 2022.
JOB OUTLOOK
Employment of court reporters and simultaneous captioners is projected to grow 3 percent from 2022 to 2032, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
About 2,100 openings for court reporters and simultaneous captioners are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
STATE & AREA DATA
Explore resources for employment and wages by state and area for court reporters and simultaneous captioners.
SIMILAR OCCUPATIONS
Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of court reporters and simultaneous captioners with similar occupations.
MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING LINKS TO O*NET
Learn more about court reporters and simultaneous captioners by visiting additional resources, including O*NET, a source on key characteristics of workers and occupations.
SUGGESTED CITATION:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners,
at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/legal/court-reporters.htm (visited February 18, 2024).
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